#SnowDrinking
About 3:30pm yesterday afternoon.
It has been an eventful week. Last Thursday, in-laws and friends started arriving from the East Coast for a week of beery fun. We started in Astoria with the Festival of Dark Arts, and then continued an exploration of local breweries that took us to Hood River and around Portland. Yesterday was supposed to be our final day before they had to head home. We had seen Alan Taylor at the festival, so were following up on his invitation to tour Zoiglhaus.
The day started with a raw chill and spiteful little droplets of rain, but that just made the inside of a pub seem all the more alluring. Tom enjoyed a maß of pilsner, and Alan brought out some Berliner weisse to sample. Later, as we were touring the brewery, we noticed snowflakes in the air. It almost never snows in Portland, and none of our phone apps warned of danger—nor did the National Weather Service. It was still about 37 degrees. We therefore chuckled at the doomed white specks swirling futilely about. (Most of the snowflakes that start falling in Western Oregon are doomed to a this kind of quick, melty death.) However, by 2:30, conditions were changing. It was still north of freezing, but the snow was sticking and starting to slush up the roads. We decided to forgo another round and headed for the next pub instead. We’d work our way back toward town, we figured, still assuming the snow was just bluffing.
It wasn’t.
We made it without incident to Upright’s new outpost, which had a smattering of people inside, each watching a stiff wind build drifts outside. The atmosphere was merry and the bartender was in a fine mood, waving aside our faux pas of parking in the wrong spot. “I don’t think it matters today,” he told us. (For those of you who are interested, it’s a cozy little space that will be wonderful and open in the summer. From the looks of it, locals are already discovering it, and it won’t hurt that they were welcomed mid-snowstorm.)
As we sipped and chatted, Sally’s eldest brother Tom mentioned that #StormDrinking is a thing in New England. Finding a warm nook with a cold beverage and friends is the perfect way to while away a Nor’Easter. We joked about its Portland equivalent, which would be more like #SnowDrinking. Even as we were planning our final move—a restaurant or pub near home—we were still thinking the clouds weren’t going to deliver more than a couple inches. Yet as we called around, we kept hearing the same thing. Places were shutting down and sending staff home while they could go, or planning to close soon. Fortunately for us, Migration Brewing was open, and the bartender said she was happy to hang out if anyone showed up. So off we went.
The winter roads in Portland are always disastrous. Snow comes so rarely we have no infrastructure for clearing, sanding, or salting them. Many people don’t really know how to drive in the bad weather. And there are hills throughout the city, upon which even experienced drivers can find themselves stranded. The local buses hadn’t chained up that dry morning, and they were scattered all over the roads spinning their wheels. Descending the hill south of Fremont on 33rd, we found two buses perpendicular to the road, and four more at the bottom of the hill lined up—and going nowhere. It was all of a sudden dangerous out, and people were obviously getting stranded.
All of this is why it’s great when business owners send their staff home. No one should have to risk a dangerous ride home. Yet sometimes workers live nearby. When we did make it to Migration, I inquired and the bartender said she was still was happy to hang out. We bonded over the experience of watching snow flurries from inside a warm pub. I am thankful to her and the staff at Upright for offering us a bit of warmth. By the time we left a bit before 8pm, a good six inches had fallen, and the winds were blowing with real force. A lot of snow was in the sky, partly, it seemed, because the twisting gale wouldn’t let it reach the ground.
It’s wintry today, with highs not forecast to breach 30 degrees (-1C). Flights have been canceled, including some of those for our visitors. There’s little traffic except for the occasional crunch of pedestrian footfalls navigating the sidewalk. I don’t know if pubs are open, and for the workers’ sake, maybe better they’re not. But if someone does want to go to work, fire up the heater, and welcome a few #SnowDrinkers, I salute them. This is a perfect day to be in a cozy pub, should you be so lucky.